progener

Forms

prōgener m (genitive prōgenerī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin prō- + gener (“son-in-law”),^[2][1][3] formed beside that noun as pronepōs stands beside nepōs.^[4] The base goes back to Proto-Italic *g(e)mro- and Proto-Indo-European *ǵ(e)m-ro- (“son-in-law”);^[5] it is cognate with Ancient Greek γαμβρός (gambrós, “son-in-law”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Seneca,^[3] who lists the family of Titus Pomponius Atticus: gener Agrippa et Tiberius progener et Drūsus Caesar pronepōs, “his son-in-law Agrippa, his grandson-in-law Tiberius and his great-grandson Drusus Caesar”.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

Festus defines it as the name a grandfather gives to the husband of his granddaughter, and the jurist Modestinus sets it out in his table of in-laws.^[4][6] Suetonius tells of a conspiracy of Augustus' grandson-in-law Paulus,^[4] and Tacitus speaks of Felix as the grandson-in-law of Antony and of the four grandsons-in-law of Tiberius.^[4] Ausonius still uses it beside sons and sons-in-law.^[4] An inscription calls Stilicho the progener of Theodosius, whose niece he had married.^[4]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca calls Tiberius the grandson-in-law of Atticus.^[4][3]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of Augustus' grandson-in-law.^[4][3]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the grandsons-in-law of Antony and Tiberius.^[4][3]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Modestinus defines it in the Digest.^[4][3]
• c. 310–394 AD – Ausonius uses it.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The husband of one's granddaughter, a grandson-in-law.^[2][6][7]

Related words

• gener
• socer

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier